Waking Up To You
by Wilia
Summary: "There are whispers of something in the back of his mind, crowding in on his already confused mind. Those whispers feel strange and foreign and they tell him of things and a lifetime he can't remember. "


**Disclaimer: **I do not own any part of Once Upon a Time.

* * *

He falls out of sleep suddenly and the effect is disorientating as he lays in a narrow bed, staring at a white ceiling. The smells and sounds aren't quite right but he's feeling too muddled to try and figure out why. Pain throbs at his side from the stab wound he'd endured while saving Emma, but he finds it grounds him and pulls his groggy mind further into wakefulness. Yet, he's not sure where he is, or who he is and nor is he sure about what happened to Emma. For that matter, he's not sure _who_ Emma is either or why that name is the only thing he can remember with certainty.

There are whispers of _something_ in the back of his mind, crowding in on his already confused mind. Those whispers feel strange and foreign and they tell him of things and a lifetime he can't remember. Yet, for the life of him, he can't figure out what's _right._ It's all wrong, _so _wrong and panic wells up in his chest, beginning to constrict his breathing. He bolts out of bed, tearing away at the wires that cling to his skin. One downward glance shows him that he is garbed in some strange blue shift that covers all of the essentials but will never be able to keep him warm.

A high-pitched whine sounds from the strange instruments surrounding him and the panic turns into a determination to escape before someone hears the alarm.

He'll figure out where he's headed and _to whom_ once he's free.

* * *

_David Nolan. David Nolan is married to Kathryn Nolan. He has been for several years now. _

My _name is David Nolan._

David's eyes flutter open and a deep groan escapes before he can stop it. His head turns to the left and he hopes that Kathryn hasn't heard a thing. She hasn't. Her golden head is turned away as she lies on her side, facing away from him and immediately his eyes run over the shape of her silhouette in the dark – checking for any movement. There is none.

Kathryn's a beautiful woman. He'd be stupid, blind and deaf not to notice the attention she garners when they walk through town together. David would feel like less of a monster if she paid any attention to any of it. The only one she pays attention to is him and every detail that has to do with his full recovery. Does he remember their wedding day? Their first date? The moment he fell in love with her?

David returns his gaze to the ceiling above and notices, with no little sense of irony, how much it reminds him of the ceiling he woke up to back at the hospital.

They've been trying for a child. Just thinking about it causes that familiar constricting feeling in his chest to return. Kathryn is beautiful, sweet and lovely and everyone in town tells him how grateful he should be to have her at his side during his recovery. He wants to feel grateful.

He really does.

But when he looks at Kathryn, all he sees is a stranger he's trying to love, or at the very least, remember. It's too much of a stretch to imagine being the father of her child, but his guilt won't let him say no to her tear-filled blue eyes and the hope of his return to her, that she holds onto so strongly.

If he's being honest with himself, all he wants to see is a petite brunette, with a pixie cut, enchantingly, gentle blue eyes and a kissable spot just above the corner of her lip that he can't seem to resist. David knows in his soul what kind of a man that makes him and he isn't proud of it. Mary Margaret had to be strong enough for the both of them and make the choice not to see him anymore. He'd be proud of her if it didn't hurt so much to be apart from the only person who makes him feel like he had a life before this nothingness.

Mary Margaret. Even the mention of her name has him wishing for her presence beside him.

David turns to gaze at Kathryn's back, tentatively reaching out to trace the line of her spine. His hand pulls back before it can make contact. David clenches his jaw and then unclenches it. It's no use. He's done fighting it.

Now it's _his_ turn.

Even if Mary Margaret won't have him, he won't drag Kathryn through his misery. It's time to end things with Kathryn and spare them both more heartache than they need in this lifetime.

He doesn't quite know where he'll go, but he knows that he can't stay in Storybrooke.

* * *

The difference a day makes can be amazingly wonderful.

He was about to leave town forever when the curse was lifted from Storybrooke and its citizens and with that release, Magic has come for all the good or evil it will do.

Charming - no, David only knows that he is just now waking up to his wife, the love of his life, tucked against his body as closely as possible. Her scent, floral and wild and free, blankets his senses and he will gladly stay in this piece of heaven forever. If life will let him. The familiar weight and feel of her, everything that was so out of place is now so right, so real. The best part? David doesn't have to choose any longer. All of his happiness is right here in this loft.

There is no constricting feeling in his chest now. Yet, there's no mistaking the apprehension that lurks at the edges of his newfound happiness, the happiness he waited twenty-eight years for. Upstairs, sharing a room are his daughter and grandson. His heart swells at the thought but David must admit that he's afraid. Too many things have gone wrong, too many people have been hurt and his daughter looks at him with a little too much pain in those familiar blue eyes.

Can he be the man he'd once had no qualms about becoming? For his family, his town and himself? He's not quite Charming anymore and he's not quite David either. Who does he need to become?

David jumps a little when a dainty hand gently lands on his forehead, smoothing his furrowed brow.

"I can hear you thinking. I can't sleep when you're thinking so loudly. Just sleep with me, love. You're here with me, where you belong."

It dawns on him, in that moment, how true Snow's words are.

* * *

"What are you doing up?"

David watches fondly as Emma jerks awake from where she's been dozing on the couch, facing the TV. He chooses not to comment on the fact that the TV is turned off but he does hesitate for a moment before taking a step towards her.

"I – uh, I couldn't sleep."

"I see."

He knows she's watching him, waiting for him to press for answers and get to the bottom of her sudden bout of insomnia. It's not his style and it's time his daughter caught a glimpse of the man he was...is...is becoming. David's heavy sigh causes Emma to stare at him, an eyebrow lifted.

"You're not the only one having trouble with insomnia," he trails off and leaves his revelation open-ended.

Emma stares at him for a moment, before heaving a sigh herself. She scoots over and tucks her legs underneath herself, looking so much like her mother that it takes his breath away. Emma pats the empty space on the couch beside her.

David will take that opening. He sits on the opposite end of the couch, hyper-aware of Emma's awareness of, well, him.

"What's on your mind?" Emma asks, slanting her eyes his way, though the rest of her still faces the TV.

He makes himself comfortable, slouching backwards against the couch, leaning his head against the back of the couch. "Everything and nothing."

A moment of silence passes as father and daughter are lost in their thoughts.

"Am I a part of the everything, or the nothing?"

David processes the smallness in her voice and the absence of the cool, confidence that he has come to associate with his daughter. Never mind, how he feels about the prickly exterior she chooses to protect herself with. In his lifetime, he's been through many, many heart-breaking experiences. Too many, he only admits to himself in the quiet of his most private thoughts.

But this, hearing the effect his absence had in his daughter's life in a single question, breaks his heart in a way it has never been broken before. His answer is immediate and to the point as he turns toward her giving Emma his full attention.

"Your name was the only thing I remembered when I woke up from the coma. I couldn't remember who you were but I remembered your name. Not your mother's name, not even my mother's name, just your name."

She nods once, twice and then draws her knees up to her chin. A quiet sniffle escapes. There's nothing he wants more than to draw her into his arms and hope that she'll find comfort there. Yet, he hesitates because Emma is his daughter but she doesn't quite see him as the father he always wanted to be.

"I-I'm," her voice trails off and her shoulders begin to shake. Throwing his hesitation to the wind, he closes the distance between them and does exactly as he wishes. They've been through enough and David will be selfish for this moment.

To his immense relief, Emma leans into his embrace. Her tears wet his t-shirt and he holds her, stroking her hair as her sobs subside to heavy sighs before returning to quiet sniffles. David searches for something to say, because he's not quite sure how to pull out of this tender moment without making things more awkward for both of them.

"So, uh, this Neal guy, huh?"

She pulls away and there is a spark of muted amusement in those blue eyes, as she meets his gaze. David shrugs.

"I can't help it."

One corner of her lips quirks up and he finds himself mirroring her expression.

At last, he's home and exactly with whom he needs to be.

* * *

**AN: **Do you realize we never really got Charming's name while he was still a shepherd? Or did I totally miss that bit? [**Later Edit: **Thanks to _gostlcards _I've found that his name was David anyway!]

David and Emma-ness aka. Daddy-Charming-Times is love.

I miss OUAT.

Talk to me!


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